I recently (1yr ago) changed jobs and my previous employer has not transferred my 401(k) contributions. I have sent them several emails regarding this. Their typical response is that they are working on it and will do so shortly. Now it is already a year.
Is there a legal procedure I can follow to force them to transfer?
If you cannot get a satisfactory answer from the company, you can contact your local office of the Employee Benefits Security Administration. They can add pressure or give advice about how to overcome any remaining hurdles if the reason for delay is legitimate.
I should probably also note that these accounts have significant reporting requirements, so it is possible that the delay is indeed a legitimate one.
I rolled my 401k over into an IRA. This is apparently the most common way to retrieve retirement funds from a former employer. I went to an office of the broker I chose to open the IRA with and they walked me through the paperwork required. As I recall, some of it had to go to the former employer, some had to go to the IRS. I ended up with a check which I deposited with the broker, and they sent more paperwork to the IRS confirming this.
Contact a financial services vendor and ask for assistance rolling your 401k into an IRA. They'll help you complete the transactions legally so you don't risk any penalties from the IRS.
Transferred where? To the 401k plan of your new employer? To an IRA?
If the transfer is to an IRA, you were talking to the wrong people when you went to the HR/401k people at your previous employer. Most (more likely all) IRA custodians would love to get their hands on that money to invest it for you. What you need to do is go to your current IRA custodian's website, tell them you want to roll over your 401k into your current IRA, give them all the information, and effectively say, "Go get 'em, Bears!" and they will do all the work for you. (In fact, IRA custodians typically have links to click on that will walk you through the entire process). Don't have a current IRA? Pick a custodian (say someone like Rearguard or Churlish Swab), tell them you want to open a new IRA and want to fund it via rollover from your 401k and sit back and relax; they will take care of it all for you.
Transferring to the 401k plan of your current employer is a little more complicated because not all 401k plans allow transfers into the plan. Again, talk to the HR/401k plan people of your current employer first to find out what is needed. It might be that your ex-employer's plan will cut a check payable to the new trustee and send it to you to send on to the new trustee, rather than send the money directly to your new 401k plan as is common in trustee-to-trustee transfers. You can't cash the check since it is not payable to you, but it is your responsibility to ensure that it gets to the right place. Whether rolling over your 401k funds into the plan of a new employer is a good idea or a bad idea depends on lots of factors. I have discussed some of these factors in this answer to a related question.
